EDIT #3 freja, irina, sasha & milana bogolegova shot by michael thompson in czech republic. thompson is of course w's resident celeb photographer- he did this month's janet jackson & nearly every W celeb edit i can recall for years. in his celeb capacity he's excellent, usually delivering more than you'd expect from celebs, whom, lets be honest, just arent as interesting in W or any fashion magazine as models are. thompson's fashion work can be great, but more commonly its just ok, good but nothing amazing. well this month his edit is the best in the mag, and his best fashion shoot I can recall in quite awhile. some of that is due to his supporting cast. you really can't ask for a better trio of high fashion 2006 girls right now than irina, freja & sasha. they are posed & shot like a group of students, at the cafe, at the dance studio, travelling on buses & cars in the streets of prague. that is a great concept to begin with & it works wonderfully in these pics. you know how us vogue studio shoots, even with 3 or 4 girls, look fake, like they're just hamming it up to music in the studio? well thompson goes 180 degrees from that here. this is seriously like hanging out with 4 gorgeous students in Prague, in real life environs, and also some cute boy models. the 4th model here, milana, is a really cool discovery. her most immediate comparison is karolina kurkova, but Ive always hated KK except when posed properly in the right bikini by the right photog. milena is already a better high fashion beauty than karolina, after what, like 3 months as a model? bye KK!! milena also recalls tanya dziahileva and a bit raquel z, so those are pretty lofty comparisons but milena totally holds her own next to 3 of the tip top girls in the world here, and her gamine blonde student look is really hot, and fresh. the other secret weapon here is karl templer's styling. perhaps even more than fab alex white, karl templer, like joe zee before him, seems, at his best, to style as well or better than anyone working. I mentioned the uncanny naturalism of the girls here, thompson's settings & images, and karl's clothes work as another key component. on both the boys & girls! all these pics are black & white, often a slightly fuzzy/grainy surface which adds to the naturalism & also impresses technically from thompson- I know he is a technician of amazing skill even if not all of his edits are this conceptually evolved. all of templer's clothes are great, and real looking. freja has a bare-aass shot which is the single best image in this edit & the hottest in the magazine in total. freja is also topless in the opening image with irina's arm around her shoulder. its friendly & cute & sisterly. all the groupings here are fab but the one above all is a ballerina-leotard image with all 4 girls at the peak of their youthful femininity, and excepting freja's hot bare aass shot its the best in the book. freja is so amazing. arguably the best girl at this week's ny fashion week, remember the very first time you saw freja's face? it was interesting, but difficult. well no more freja is an absolute 5 star beauty now from the highest fashion shows to debased mass market jobs like the Gap. and sasha is just as great here, as usual, and irina expresses superb personality here, as always. and milena is really fresh & cute. there are some historical antecedents to these images I would say astrid kirchner's hamburg, germany photos from early 60s? robert doisneau from 1940s/50s in paris? not exactly sure what thompson based these on but its his best high fashion work in memory & templer & the 4 girls are also at that supreme level. rating 10 of 10 one of best fashion edits of 2006.

BEST EDIT 'la piage' daria shot by thompson in resort/boating looks. looks like palm beach but storyline is riviera. thompson channels bruce weber's 80s style here, closest to some of his ralph palm beach campaigns. thompson might not me the most individual or innovative photog but he's more than up the task here. daria's face has looked better but alain pichon's side-parted hair is perfectly kath hepburn or lauren bacall. these ea-faring B&W's evoke that 40s glamour perfectly- as ralph's 80s polo often evoked days gone by. edit begins with a striking topless daria pic. Im not the biggest daria fan but her modelling succeeeds wonderfully here abetted by thompson's pics and the storybook palm beach boat fantasy. karl templer styled its traditional in the extreme and while not novel like white's raquel styling, to my taste these are the best clothes & looks in sum in this issue. simple resort/ holiday pioeces but totally satisfying: hermes linen 3 pc suit. chanel tweed coat + lacoste shirt; st john trench/burberry cardigan; eres bikini; herrera blouse vest & pants- perfctly palm beach. ck linen shirt; burberry leather trench & mailoot-superb. ck cardigan 7 shots - marvelous. RL white pnats & sweater & white/brown striped shirt. armani suit + brooks bros. shirt. bottega jacket pants shirt. admittedly these looks are by far the closest o my personal style & worldview of anything in this issue. perhaps some of you will prefer alex whites looks on raquel, stam & sasha. each element in this daria/thompson edit works together so well that the story is greater than its parts. thompson came through with the weber pics, templer's style is awesome, he & thiompson deservbe bonuses, and daria really shiones in the hepburn role- one doesnt see her that much lately but work like this speaks eloquently of her status as a top 10 model in 2006 when she chooses to be seen. great great story. 9 of 10.